CBS NEWS: … In response to questions from Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., [Army Gen. Keith] Alexander said it was impossible to say that any one specific surveillance program was responsible for thwarting a terrorist attack.
“When I say dozens, what I’m talking about here is that these authorities complement each other in helping us identify different terrorist actions and help disrupt them,” he said. “They complement each other, so what you’re asking me is to state unequivocally ‘A’ or ‘B’ contributed solely to that — the reality is they work together, and we’ve got to help make that clear to you.”
Sens. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., questioned Alexander about the NSA’s use of Section 215 of the Patriot Act, known as the “business records” section, to justify the collection of all of Verizon’s U.S. phone records. That section allows the intelligence community to obtain “any tangible things,” so long as it’s for “an authorized investigation” against international terrorism or clandestine intelligence activities… (more)
